Ritchie Bros’ largest Grande Prairie, Alberta auction to date sold more than 4,900 equipment items for more than $82 million surpassing the previous gross transaction value (GTV) record by 32 per cent.
A record 12,350 online bidders from 53 countries registered for the auction, which took place November 23 to 26. About 91 per cent of the equipment was purchased by Canadians, including 52 per cent of machines being purchased by Albertans. International bidders from as far away as Mexico, Romania and Taiwan accounted for 9 per cent of auction sales. Due to COVID-19, the auction was held 100 per cent online.
“With 4,900-plus items to sell, we set up our first-ever, four-day Grande Prairie auction and the results were record breaking,” said Terry Moon, regional sales manager for Ritchie Bros.
“We saw strong pricing for the construction and transportation equipment in the auction, including 121 excavators sold for $19-plus million. At the end of the auction we had set new records for lots sold, number of bidders registered and gross transaction value.”
On rbauction.com, the Grande Prairie webpage received more than 582,000 unique page views, with 57,000 items added to customer personal watch lists.
“We also sold a large selection of pipeline equipment in this auction, including 80-plus pipelayers. One of these pipelayers, consigned by NTL Pipelines, was painted pink and sold for $245,000 in the auction,” Moon said.
“All proceeds from the sale of the pink pipelayer have been generously donated by NTL’s owner, John Neudorf, to a charity made in his late sister’s name: the Community Foundation of Northwest Alberta Eva Marie Fund. We are glad we could help.”
More than 375 owners consigned equipment to the Grande Prairie auction, including a complete dispersal for TalCan Oilfield Contracting Ltd.
“I certainly miss attending the auction in person and chatting with all my friends in the industry, but Ritchie Bros. sure has made buying and selling online easy,” said Taud Schall, owner of TalCan Oilfield Contracting.
“We are very pleased with the results we achieved in the Grande Prairie auction last week. I was particularly impressed by the work of the auctioneers, who highlighted the care we took with our equipment and did everything they could to get that next bid.”
Grand Prairie auction highlights:
- Three 2019 Komatsu PC490LC-11 hydraulic excavators sold for a combined $1.05 million.
- A 2017 John Deere S690 RWA combine sold for $410,000.
- A 2015 Kenworth T800 T/A tri-drive with a Manitex TC700 boom truck sold for $405,000.
- A 2018 John Deere 850K LGP dozer sold for $337,500.
- A 2018 John Deere 772G AWD motor grader sold for $335,000.
